Renegade
by unlimited-dreamer
Summary: When a set of alien descendants from Altea crash land on the Castle of Lions with an Altean girl, Allura finds herself discovering more about the demise of Altea and the rise of Sylt, the last planet known to harbour Alteans before Zarkon's invasion. Allura x OC SPOILERS FROM 2ND SEASON
1. Chapter 1

It's been a long time since I've written a fanfiction, so please bear with me if this starts off a little rocky. This is my first Voltron fic and I'm hoping to keep everyone in character as well as I can! Please note that this does take place in Season 2, right after the Space Mall episode. Spoilers to follow.

Enjoy!

Pidge and Lance whined as the two suddenly came to the realization that their new earth game wasn't useable in the Castle of Lions. With a smaller whisper the two packed up the system as the rest of the team looked on, chuckling at the sight.

"When we get back to Earth, we'll play it. It'll be a game night! I'll make pizza, wings..." Hunk said, patting Pidge's back with a smile. "It'll be loads of fun."

"Sounds like a plan," Pidge replied, smiling as they placed the neatly packed system on their chair. "The power glove will have to wait until we defeat Zarkon."

"With that in mind, we all should be getting back to the training room," Shiro suggested, watching his fellow Paladins. "I understand you all had an interesting time at the mall but we have to be ready for anyth-" Suddenly, Shiro was cut off as a shot from an unknown score narrowly missed the nose of the Castle, its defensive system kicking in.

"What in the world?!" Coran exclaimed, scrambling to the monitor and pulled up the surveillance system. "It came from under us, just give me a tick, I can pull up a visual." An image of a damaged ship came up onto the screen, Coran zooming in for more details. "It looks to be a... bird of some kind. A very ugly bird, might I add," He said, stroking his mustache as they inspecting the image. It was a hybrid of several ships, the main hull looking to be Galra.

"They're hailing a transmission," Allura spoke, an alarm showing up on her screen. "It's a mayday signal." She frowned as she turned to the Paladins. "I want you all to suit up, we can't be too careful. This could possibly be a ploy to get inside and get the lions." The Paladins nodded as they ran off quickly to suit up, Allura connecting the call. Flickering onto the screen was a man wearing a snake mask, the interior of his ship looking dingy and damaged.

"This is Allura, Princess of Altea. We received your call. Why did you shoot at us?" She demanded, watching the man.

"It was not my intention to intimidate you," He spoke, his voice muffled by the mask. "However, It's urgent... its all I could think of. My friend is severely injured and the Gull has taken too much damage."

"You wish to board our ship?" She questioned. "How many of you are there on that ship? It's much too large for just two people."

"There's nine of us on board," he replied, seeming to glance behind him. "I'm sorry, but we can please hurry this up? My friend really needs help, he's in a lot of pain..."

"Where are these other seven people? Why can't they care for your friend? It just doesn't add up," Allura said, eyeing the man as the five ran back into the bridge. "Paladi-"

"Please!" The man pleaded, taking off his mask to reveal his face. A long scar covered the left side of his face, the left eye looking to be sewn shut. The whites of his good eye were pitch black, his purple iris filled with concern as he pushed his long dark purple hair from his face, showing slight violet tinting on his pale skin. "You're highness, please... I beg of you..."

Allura's breath hitched in her throat as she looked at him. "You're a Sylt?" She breathed, staring at him. "How is it possible? Your people shouldn't be alive!"

"My race isn't of concern!" His voice rose as he slammed his hand on the monitor, his brow furrowed. "I need to know! Will you let me onto your ship or not? If it bothers you so much to know who else is on this ship, I, Mateo, will gladly detail. But just please help us!"

Allura took a long look at him, standing in silence as a whimper came through the transmission, echoing in from in the Gull. "... Alright, you may come aboard," She spoke, opening the bay doors. "If this is a ruse, you will be sorry."

"I can assure you... it's not," He replied before he shut off the transmission, the screen disappearing. Allura and Coran, with Paladins in tow steadily and quickly made their way down to the Bay Area. Stepping inside one of the elevators, Coran and Allura seemed to be off, nervous in a way. Shiro looked around at his fellow teammates and back at the two Alteans as they waited to reach their desired floor. He cleared his throat before he spoke, getting the attention of the two.

"What's going on with you two? You seemed... shocked when that alien revealed himself," Shiro asked, looking for the answer his team wanted. Coran glanced at Allura as he turned around.

"We... didn't expect it, that's all," Coran replied, trying to end the conversation there.

"What's a Sylt?" Hunk prompted, looking at Coran with some worry. "Should we be concerned about this?"

"What? No, no! A Sylt is-" Coran began, Allura cutting in curtly.

"They were exiled Alteans," She said, walking briskly out of the elevator as the doors opened, everyone scrambling to keep up with her. "My father was against the killing of criminals, so he exiled them to a nearby dwarf planet called Sylt. It's toxic waters and dense jungles made it almost uninhabitable, but it was prefect for them."

"So it's kind of like if Australia was a planet?" Lance added in, earning a nod from Coran.

"Yes. The Alteans that were originally exiled there adapted to its environment and evolved," Coran added on as they approached the bay doors. "They became more amphibious, similar to your earth frogs... but that's all we know of them. It's been 10,000 years since we saw them last. Many things about them could have changed."

"We'll get our answers soon enough," Allura said, opening the doors. As the seven of them entered, they were greeted by the smell of corroded metal, the Gull looking even worse in person then on the monitor. As the cabin door opened up, smoke wafted out of the inside, coughing following.

"Is everything alright in there?" Shiro called as he quickly ran over, Keith and Lance in tow as Pidge and Hunk started inspecting the damage to the ship. He stepped inside, covering his mouth from the thick smoke.

"Just get the kids out first!" Mateo yelled from the cockpit, grunting. Shiro looked at Keith and Lance with worry as they all stepped inside the cabin, going further inside. Sure enough, five alien children were cowering in a corner, all of them garbed in prisoners uniforms from the Galra ships. Lance carefully kneeled down to them, holding out his hand.

"It's going to be okay," He spoke gently, his vision blurred due to the smoke. "Come one, we're going to get you guys out of here." The children looked up at him with fear, one of them soon reaching out and taking his hand. Shiro and Keith followed suit as Lance picked up one of the smaller kids and lead them out of the ship. As they stepped out of the Gull and over towards Allura, they noticed something about the kids.

"They're all different aliens..." Allura commented, looking over them as Lance and Keith lead four of them over to her. There was two young Balmerans, an Olkari and a smaller cat-like alien. "Where did you al-" She began until Shiro came into sight, the words now stuck in her throat. Confused by her sudden silence, Keith and Lance turned around, the two suddenly seeing the cause of her shock.

In Shiro's arms was a small Altean girl with short blue hair. Allura stammered as she and Coran stared at the two, completely dumbfound at the sight. Mateo came out from the Gull, carrying his unconscious friend off the ship, the man also garbed in prisoner wear. As he walked over, the children ran over to him, all of them looking concerned as he struggled to carrying the bleeding man to Allura. She gasped at the state of his friend, Lance running over to give him a hand.

"I know you have questions," Mateo spoke, looking up at her. "I promise, I will answer them. First... help me save Deimos."


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! Thank you for continuing onto the second chapter. I apologize for the amount of time it took to get this chapter done, I'm in the middle of a move. I hope you all are enjoying it as much as I did with writing this. If you like how the story is going, please like and comment!

Enjoy!

Allura stood in front of the healing pod, staring at the man sleeping inside as thoughts from the day tried to arrange themselves. Once on the ship, Deimos was immediately placed in a pod while his co-pilot Mateo was led to another room, Hunk and Lance taking the kids to the mess hall. She inspected Deimos as he slept, taking notes to the similarities between him and Mateo.

Unlike the dark haired companion, Deimos sported short, unkept wavy dirty blonde hair, dreads and beads standing out from his locks. He was lighter then Allura and like Mateo, had a peculiar coloring to his face and body. The green in his skin contoured his face and neck,the color becoming more prominent as he healed. She watched in silence, her mind now comparing his and her species. What had changed between in all those years? Was Sylt even remotely Altean? How was it there was an Altean child on that ship? Questions whacked her mind as she sighed, turning away from the pod and walked to the mess hall. Just then, Coran called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Ah, Princess!" Coran spoke, waving to her. "I've got news. The kids have been cleaned up and are currently dressing as we speak. Lance said he'd bring them to the mess hall."

"That's great, Coran," She replied with a smile, hesitating for a moment. "Did you happen..."

"To ask the little girl about herself? I'm afraid not," He shook his head, Allura holding back a sigh. "Who would've thought we'd see one of our own after all this time?"

"I know..." Allura agreed, brushing her hair out of her face. Convinced that they were they only two Alteans left, it left many questions unanswered when this little girl appeared before them. The truest question that burned in their minds was this: Were there more of them?

"Princess, might I suggest we question Mateo? He did promise to explain himself," Coran prompted, breaking Allura's train of thought. "Shiro and Pidge went down to the docks to help him start repairs."

"I agree, but how likely is he to tell us everything?" She questioned, crossing her arms.

"As long as you continue to be a gracious host, I'll tell you anything," Mateo piped in with a chuckle, Allura looking over her shoulder to him, a bright blush now dusting her cheeks. Shiro trailed behind the Sylt, nodding to Allura and Coran but the princesses focus had shifted elsewhere. Mateo was covered in oil and dust and had tossed his soiled shirt over his shoulder, exposing his toned chest and stomach. He wasn't very sculpted but he was toned enough to show subtle definition. Her eyes wandered down his torso and back up to his face, a satisfied smile gracing his lips.

"Pidge will be up soon, thought you might want to talk with Mateo before he got to involved with working on the Gull," Shiro mentioned, Allura shaking off her previous train of thought.

"Good thinking, Shiro," Allura thanked said as the the four of them got closer, Allura standing up straight. "I'd like to start with some questions about th-"

"The kids? Of course," Mateo cut off, earning a side eye from Shiro. "Hm... Where do I start?"

"How about with why you had them on your ship to begin with?" Shiro prompted. "Followed by how your ship got so mangled?"

"The Gull is damaged during an escape. A small Galra ship was carrying some...goods it should have left behind. When Deimos stole it back, they retaliated," Mateo answered, watching Shiro. "Our planet, Sylt, was invaded long ago by the Galra," He spoke, his voice low and somber. "It's know for its vast seas and little land, but we have a good system going. We were a neutral ground for trade ships until they invaded."

"They turned our beloved ports into trading ground for livestock... In their case, the livestock was aliens. All sorts of them ended up there, from all reaches of the galaxy," He continued, motioning with his hands. "More recently, they've been dealing with children."

"Child trafficking?" Shiro stared at Mateo in horror, him nodding in reply.

"Deimos originally invaded a ship that took his nephew and hijacked it, renaming it The Gull. Now, he tracks ships carrying kids and brings them back to Sylt, then returns them home," Mateo replied, looking proud of his friend. "I joined him soon after as his co-pilot."

"If you don't mind me asking, you said you return the children back to their homes?" Allura asked, him nodding in reply as she asked another. "Then would you happen to know where that little Altean girl came from?"

"Do you know if she's the only one?," Coran quickly added on, stroking his mustache. Allura nodded, looking over at Mateo as they waited for his answer to the previous question. Mateo stood there, concern in his eye. Taking a deep breath, he sighed as he looked up at the group.

"Yes, I know where she came from. She has a name, you know," He finally spoke. "It's Shkurte."

"Lovely name," Allura mentioned, a small smile crossing her lips. Finally, they were getting the answers they wanted.

"Yes, it is," Mateo nodded graciously. "She's from Sylt, like Deimos and I. ... Are you catching flies, buddy?" He gaffed at Coran, the man staring at Mateo in shock, mouth wide open.

"That can't be. Tell the truth," Allura demanded, a frown set on her lips. Mateo smiled, shaking his head. "You can't honestly be saying Alteans are living there."

"It's completely true. We are descendant from you, princess," Mateo added quickly. "Mind you, it took us hundreds of years to full adapt to Sylt's environment. Not the point, but yes. There are some Alteans left on Sylt, maybe less then a hundred women..."

"I'm sorry, did you say "women"?" Coran asked, shutting his mouth. "What about the men? Surely you must've meant men and woman." Mateo shook his head, watching Coran and Allura's faces as the news registered.

"Altean men are hard to come by," He spoke, looking to Coran. "You're the first adult male I've seen in years. I'm sorry to say, but Altean has almost become a female only race."

"Then how is Shkurte here?" Allura interrupted. "She must be full Altean, there's no way she isn't!" As Mateo looked to continue, a thud was heard from in the mess hall, followed by the pitter-patter of small feet.

"Hey, wait! You can't go out there!" Lance yelled, chasing after the young Altean girl as she bolted out of the mess hall, shoving past the Paladins. Mateo practically leapt closer and swept her up into his arms as to her as she beelined to him, holding onto him tightly as she looked back to everyone, scared.

"Why do I have to stay in there?" Shkurte asked, tears welling. "I want to stay with Father!"

"Shkurte, come on. They'll be down questioning your dad in a mi- Wait, what?!" Lance exclaimed, eyes widening as the words sunk in, everyone staring at the small girl. In Mateo's arms, it was easy to see that the two did share some similarities, the most prominent being their bright purple eyes.

"We Sylts kept one Altean trait. For you, you could shift into any alien species you desired," He spoke, holding her close. "For us, we can shift our DNA to whatever species our mates desire. Shkurte is one of my Altean children." Allura clapped a hand over her mouth, her brain refusing to process what she was hearing. How could this be?

"I hate to break your pretty little heart, darling," A deep voice spoke from behind them, Allura jumping a little in shock as the Paladins surrounded her, eyes focused on the man dragging himself down the hall. Deimos had let himself out the pod earlier then he should've been and he leaned against the wall, a smirk decorating his face. "You hoped to find your people and be rid of us, didn't you?" His eyes stayed focused on Allura as he spoke, a satisfied look appearing as she confirmed him wordlessly.

"That's what I thought, you tart," He chuckled, low and dark as she glared back at him. "Without us, your race will be nothing. You need us. Now I suggest you start treating us a little less like prisoners and a little more like royalty, don't you think?"


End file.
